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Dictatorship is good. If the Dictator is me.Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:29:31 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/Comment on Charities In Meltdown by beetleypetehttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1491
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:29:31 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1491Thanks, Roger. I support some local animal charities that I know rely solely on volunteers and donations, with no paid staff, and donated premises. In the wider world, I have been a long-time supporter of the RNLI. Only a few staff get paid, as only a few lifeboat stations are operated as a fully-manned paid operation. Mostly, the boats are staffed by people willing to risk their own lives, to save people at sea. As a non-swimmer, I cannot think of a worthier cause.
We also do some work with the local British Legion. No regular money donations, but our time (and some cash) to pay for an annual lunch reception for the old soldiers. The premises are given free by the local Council, and we provide the food, and labour.
Best wishes, Pete.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by Woebegone but Hopefulhttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1490
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 18:30:24 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1490It’s difficult one.
There’s been much talk about ‘the charity industry’ for some time.
IF our governments were more concerned about people rather than pleasing LARGE corporations we might not be having these conversations.
One rule of thumb is to see if one has been criticised recently by a govt. spokesman for a report it has brought out complaining about lack of funding somewhere, otherwise it’s a question of making your own call.
My wife survived cancer thanks to prompt NHS action and a good surgeon, so it’s ‘Cancer Research’ for me, we have a grandson with autism so it’s NAS as well, from what I can tell they seem to play a straight game.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by greenpete58https://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1489
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:21:02 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1489I won’t dispute any of this. I’m assuming you’ve researched all this very well. My only point is that one shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bath water. There are many good, responsible charities out there (I cited a few above), and it would be a shame if they suffered due to the bad behavior of a few. It’s a cold and indifferent world as it is.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by beetleypetehttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1488
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:54:38 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1488Oxfam (for example only) claim to need at least 25% of all donations to run the organisation. Government figures here suggest that 46% is more likely, with most of the big charities passing on little more than 54% of all donations. My 90% is an example of one charity only, (which I can’t name in case they sue me) which is why I said ‘up to’. So taking into account government figures, it is a safe bet to assume that only around half of the money goes to the causes advertised.
Something else I would like to add is that many charities pass on aid (especially clothing) to ‘middlemen entrepreneurs’ in some countries. (For example, Nigeria) They then sell those products (supposedly at low ‘affordable’ prices) to people in need. The charities claim this is the creation of both jobs and retail infrastructure. If I donate clothing to a third world country, I appreciate it has to get there, and costs are involved. However, I don’t expect the needy to then have to buy something I have given for free, as I believe the charity should fund this through the huge amount of government aid they already receive.
Best wishes, Pete..

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by greenpete58https://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1487
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:27:22 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1487Gotcha. (Maybe I missed where you distinguished between TYPES of charities). I think the “big business” aspect is probably an evolutionary reality, unfortunately. Charities seek volunteers and donations, and as they grow, the volunteers become paid employees and many of the donations go towards operating expenses. But 90% seems pretty exorbitant.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by beetleypetehttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1486
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 15:35:04 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1486Thanks for your thoughts, Pete. The reason I gave up donating to such charities was because they had become big-business, with highly paid executives and luxurious offices. They needed up to 90% of donations to keep all that going, before handing any out to those in need. It had nothing to do with isolated cases of sexual misconduct, which have only recently come to light. I have continued to donate to many worthwhile charities since, and if anything give more money now than I ever did.
Best wishes, Pete.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by greenpete58https://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1485
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 13:24:02 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1485Just as one has to be careful donating to large charities, one also has to be careful about writing them off altogether. The easiest thing in the world is to stop donating based on one or two widely publicized cases of abuse. In the states here, I donate to conservation organizations that regularly battle in U.S. courts to prevent environmental abuses. My wife gives to United Way, which has roots going back to the 19th century. Any organization as large and historic as that will have isolated instances of power abuse, but overall, UW does great work for local communities. My father-in-law was a lifelong Shriner, part of a fraternal organization that has a charitable arm for crippled children.

Sure, one has to be careful where one donates. Abuse of power and money is a reality, and it happens all over. But to write off charitable donations altogether (“I gave up donating to such charities”) is like (just an analogy here) converting to atheism because of sexual abuse amongst certain church leaders.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by beetleypetehttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1484
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 10:40:10 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1484I agree, Eddy. Little point taking money from places like Haiti, then having to watch a huge humanitarian crisis that the country is unable to cope with for lack of money to deal with it.
Best wishes, Pete.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by beetleypetehttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1483
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 10:37:35 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1483You can research them, Theo. Much easier now, with the Internet. Something I would recommend doing, before parting with any money.
Best wishes, Pete.

]]>Comment on Charities In Meltdown by Eddy Winkohttps://redflagflying.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/charities-in-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-1482
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 06:22:07 +0000http://redflagflying.wordpress.com/?p=539#comment-1482I did some work for a charity in the past, IT related stuff, and discovered how much people were getting paid. I stopped making donations after that. Now I take the same view as I do with the homeless. Rather than give money I would buy then a sandwich and a coffee, or give them my cigarettes (when I used to smoke). So helping out at events is as far as my charity goes now.
Haiti has such history of poverty mostly created by richer nations lending money at crazy rates of interest going back centuries. The best solution for many countries such as Haiti is for debt to be written off, because at the end of the day a debt simply means that someone somewhere is making a tidy profit. Its a shame the UN doesn’t take more of an active role in these world problems.